Display device

ABSTRACT

A display device includes a case and a display panel module. The case includes a front bezel and a back bezel combined with each other to define an accommodating space in the case, and the case further includes a window formed on the front bezel. The display panel module includes a display screen, and the display panel module is disposed inside the case, wherein the display screen faces the window and an included angle is defined between the display screen and the front bezel. The included angle is between 3 to 5 degrees, when the display device is tilted a small angle backward, the included angle between the display screen and the front bezel make the display screen to be substantially perpendicular to a surface on witch the display device is placed thereon, such that the display screen is perpendicular to the line of the sight of a user.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 99119032 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on2010 Jun. 11, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularlyto a display device with a display screen perpendicular to a surfacewhen being placed obliquely.

2. Related Art

Please refer to FIG. 1, when a large flat panel display device 1 in theprior art is placed on a surface 500, the display device 1 has to besupported on a base 2, which provides a stable disposing foundation bymeans of a large-area contact between the base 2 and the surface 500, asso to support the display device 1 on the surface 500.

However, as shown in FIG. 2, in order to prevent the display device 1from tipping-over, the base 2 must extend both towards the front sideand the back side of the display device 1 to a particular width W toprevent a projection of a center of gravity 1 a of the display device 1on the surface 500 from moving outside the base 2 when the displaydevice 1 is tilted back and forth. Therefore, when placing theconventional large display device, a large area must be reserved on thesurface 500 for placing the base 2 with a size sufficiently large toprevent the display device from tipping-over. The base 2 occupies aconsiderable extra space, and is not pleasant to look at.

As shown in FIG. 3, another method for supporting the display device 1is mainly used on small displays, such as a small-sized TV set ordigital photo frame, in which a bracket 3 is disposed on the back bezelof the display device 1. The display device 1 is disposed on the surface500 by tilting backwards, and the bracket 3 also contacts the surface500 to support the display device 1.

The supporting method as shown in FIG. 3 is relatively simple, which issuitable for a small display. However, the tilting backwards of thedisplay device 1 also causes a display screen 1 b to be tiltedbackwards, so that a user cannot directly view the display screen 1 bfrom an angle perpendicular to the display screen 1 b. On a current flatpanel display, the display screen 1 b has a preferred viewing anglerange, in which the best viewing direction toward the display screen 1 bis the direction perpendicular to the display screen 1 b. The supportingmethod as shown in FIG. 3 causes the display screen 1 b to be tiltedbackwards, and thus it is not easy for the user to view the displayscreen 1 b along viewing direction perpendicular to the display screen 1b. In this case, to obtain a better viewing angle, the user must viewthe display screen 1 b with a relatively uncomfortable posture, such aslooking downwards towards the display screen 1 b from a high position.

SUMMARY

In view of the abovementioned problem, the present invention is directedto a display device which does not equipped with a large-sized baseoccupying a large area, and prevents a poor viewing angle resulting fromthe tilting forwards and backwards of the display device.

The display device of the present invention includes a case and adisplay panel module.

The case includes a front bezel and a back bezel combined with eachother, and includes a window formed on the front bezel.

The display panel module is provided to display images generated by anelectronic device and includes a display screen. The display panelmodule is disposed in the case with the display screen facing thewindow. An included angle between 3 to 5 degrees is defined between thedisplay panel module and the front bezel.

When the display is placed or supported by tilting backwards, if thetilting angle of the front bezel equals the included angle between thedisplay screen and the front bezel, the display screen will beperpendicular to a surface.

In the display device of the present invention, a supporting force isprovided by a support with a small area from a back side of the case, soas to maintain the forward and backward tilting angle of the displaydevice, instead of using a large-sized base occupying a large area tosupport the display, such that the space for disposing the displaydevice is reduced. The display device can be optionally wall-mounted ordisposed on the surface, and after the display tilts backwards to asmall degree, the display screen is approximately perpendicular to thesurface due to the included angle between the display screen and thefront bezel of the case. Therefore, the display screen is nearlyperpendicular to the line of the sight of a user, and the user can havethe best viewing direction toward display screen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thusare not limitative of the present invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a display device in the prior art, inwhich the display device is disposed on a base;

FIG. 2 is a lateral view showing the display device and the base in theprior art;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the display device in the prior art, inwhich the display device is obliquely disposed on a surface;

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are perspective views according to an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view according to the embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a support according to theembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a cam according to the embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, in which a display device accordingto an embodiment of the present invention is provided for display imagesgenerated by an electronic device. The display device includes a displaypanel module 100 and a case 300. The display panel module 100 includes adisplay screen 100 a, and the display panel module 100 is disposedinside the case 300.

Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 6. The case 300 includes a front bezel301 and a back bezel 302 combined with each other, and accommodationspace 300 a is defined inside the case 300. The case 300 includes awindow 303, which is formed on the front bezel 301 and in communicationwith the accommodation space 300 a.

Please refer to FIG. 4 to FIG. 6. The case 300 further includes a baseportion 304, which connects the front bezel 301 to the back bezel 302.The base portion 304 contacts a surface 500 to support the case 300 onthe surface 500.

Please refer to FIG. 4 and FIG. 6. The display panel module 100 is usedto display images generated by the electronic device. The display panelmodule 100 is disposed in the accommodation space 300 a of the case 300,and the display screen 100 a faces the window 303. So that the displayscreen 100 a of the display panel module 100 is exposed on the frontbezel 301 via the window 303. An included angle θ is defined between thedisplay screen 100 a and the front bezel 301, and the included angle θis between 3 to 5 degrees. Thus, when the front bezel 301 of the case300 is tilted backward on the surface 500, the display screen 100 a ofthe display panel module 100 is perpendicular to the surface 500.

As shown in FIG. 6, the display screen 100 a of the display panel module100 has a lower edge 101 corresponding to the base portion 304 and anupper edge 102 opposite to the lower edge 101. The lower edge 101 of thedisplay screen 100 a is defined as an axis of rotation, and thus thedisplay panel module 100 of the display screen 100 a is made to betilted towards the outside of the window 303 by rotated about the loweredge 101 as the axis of rotation.

Therefore, a distance D1 from the lower edge 101 of the display screen100 a to a bottom edge of the window 303 is larger than a distance D2from the upper edge 102 of the display screen 100 a to an top edge ofthe window 303, so that the specific included angle θ is defined betweenthe display panel module 100 and the front bezel 301.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the display device is placed on the surface500, such as a top of a table, the base portion 304 of the case 300contacts the surface 500 and supports the case 300 on the surface 500.At this time, if the case 300 is tilted towards the back bezel 302, andthe tilting angle of the front bezel 301 equals the specific includedangle θ between the display screen 100 a and the front bezel 301, thedisplay screen 100 a is nearly perpendicular to the surface 500, so asto provide a user with a better viewing direction toward display screen100 a.

Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the display device of the presentinvention further includes a support 400, and the support 400 includes apivot portion 401 and a joint portion 403.

The joint portion 403 is permanently or detachably connected to the backbezel 302 of the case 300, and the pivot portion 401 extends away fromthe back bezel 302. The pivot portion 401 is adapted to contact thesurface 500 to support the case 300 on the surface 500, such that thecase 300 keeps oblique angle to the surface 500 instead of tiltingtowards the back bezel 302.

Please refer to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, in which the support 400 in thisembodiment is a U-shaped stand. Two ends of the bent bar serve as thejoint portion 403 of the support 400, which is connected to the backbezel 302 of the case 300 through insertion, and a middle section of thestand serves as the pivot portion 401. The stand is one of the variousimplementing aspects of the support 400, but is not used to limit theconfiguration of support 400 of the present invention. The support 400may also be of other types, such as a cylinder, a plate, a rectangularframe, or an H-shape frame.

Please refer to FIG. 6, in which a relative position between the support400 and the back bezel 302 is determined according to the followingprinciples. When the base portion 304 and the pivot portion 401 contactthe surface 500 to support the display device, a projection of a centerof gravity 305 of the display device on the surface 500 falls betweenthe base portion 304 and the bearing portion 401, so that the displaydevice is tilted backwards under the effect of gravity. At this time,with a supporting function of the bearing portion 401, the displaydevice can be supported without tilting forwards.

Most importantly, it is better to maintain the included angle θ betweenthe front bezel 301 and the display panel module 100 between 3 to 5degrees. This ensures that the projection of the center of gravity 305on the surface 500 falls between the base portion 304 and the bearingportion 401. Meanwhile, the display panel module 100 occupies thesmallest possible space inside the case while the whole display devicecan be supported by the support 400.

If the included angle θ between the front bezel 301 and the displaypanel module 100 is too large, the center of gravity 305 will movebackwards too far; as a result, the projection of the center of gravity305 on the surface 500 can only be maintained between the base portion304 and the pivot portion 401 by using a longer support 400. Meanwhile,if the included angle θ between the front bezel 301 and the displayscreen 100 a is too large, a thickness of the case 300 (a distancebetween the front bezel 301 and the back bezel 302), must be increasedsignificantly in order to dispose the display panel module 100 in thecase 300. As a result, in the display device of this embodiment, thespecific included angle θ between the front bezel 301 and the displayscreen 100 a is preferably between 3 to 5 degrees, and the projection ofthe center of gravity 305 on the surface can be maintained between thebase portion 304 and the pivot portion 401 without increasingunnecessarily the thickness of the case 300. In addition, a distancebetween the joint portion 403 of the support 400 and the base portion304 is between ⅕ to 1/7 of a height of the case 300, and a length of thesupport 400 may also be shortened. Moreover, when the display iswall-mounted instead of being disposed on the surface 500, the support400 may also be detached from the back bezel 302.

Please refer to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, in order to slightly adjust the angleof the display relative to the surface 500, an embodiment of the presentinvention further provides a cam 410, pivoted eccentrically to the pivotportion 401 of the support 400. The pivot portion 401 indirectlycontacts the surface 500 via the cam 410. With the rotation of the cam410 relative to the pivot portion 401, a height of the pivot portion 401relative to the surface 500 also changes, such that the tilting angle ofthe display device is slightly adjusted the tilting angle of the displaydevice relative to the surface 500. The cam 410 is approximately arectangular cylinder or an elliptic cylinder, and is pivotedeccentrically to the support 400 with the pivot portion 401 as its axlecenter.

The display device of the present invention tilts backwards; therefore,the support 400 need only provide a supporting force from the back sideof the case 300 in order to maintain the backward tilting angle of thecase 300. Since the display tilts backwards, the display is preventedfrom tilting forwards under the effect of gravity, and thus the support400 does not need to extend to the front side of the case 300. Comparedwith the base of the display device in the prior art, the display deviceof the present invention does not occupy the surface 500 in front of thecase 300, and the space required for disposing the display device isreduced. Regardless of whether the display is wall-mounted or disposedon the surface 500, after the display device tilts backwards a smalldegree, the display device is roughly parallel to a plumb line(approximately perpendicular to the surface 500), due to the includedangle between the display panel module 100 and the front bezel 301 ofthe case 300, such that the user can view the display panel module 100from a perpendicular angle and maintain the best viewing directiontoward the display screen 100 a.

While the present invention has been described by the way of example andin terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that theinvention need not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On thecontrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similararrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similarstructures.

1. A display device for displaying images generated by an electronicdevice, comprising: a case, comprising a front bezel and a back bezelcombined with each other, and a window formed on the front bezel; and adisplay panel module, arranged to display images generated by theelectronic device, comprising a display screen, wherein the displaypanel module is arranged such that the display panel module is disposedinside the case with the display screen facing the window, an comprisedangle is defined between the display screen and the front bezel, and thecomprised angle is between 3 to 5 degrees.
 2. The display device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the case has a base portion, connecting thefront bezel to the back bezel, for contact a surface to support the caseon the surface.
 3. The display device as claimed in claim 2, wherein thedisplay screen comprises a lower edge corresponding to the base portionand an upper edge opposite to the lower edge, and the display screen ismade to be tilted towards the outside of the window by being rotatedabout the lower edge as an axis of rotation.
 4. The display device asclaimed in claim 2, wherein the display screen has a lower edgecorresponding to the base portion and an upper edge opposite to thelower edge, the window has a bottom edge corresponding to the baseportion and a top edge opposite the bottom edge, and a distance from thelower edge of the display screen to the bottom edge of the window islarger than a distance from the upper edge of the display screen to thetop edge of the window.
 5. The display device as claimed in claim 2,further comprising a support, wherein the support comprises: a jointportion, connected to the back bezel of the case; and a pivot portion,extending away from the back bezel.
 6. The display device as claimed inclaim 5, wherein the joint portion is detachably connected to the backbezel of the case.
 7. The display device as claimed in claim 5, whereinthe support is a U-shaped stand, two ends of the U-shaped stand areconnected to the back bezel to serve as the joint portion, and a middlesection of the bent bar serve as the pivot portion.
 8. The displaydevice as claimed in claim 5, wherein a distance between the jointportion of the support and the base portion is ⅕ to 1/7 of a height ofthe case.
 9. The display device as claimed in claim 5, furthercomprising a cam, pivoted eccentrically to the pivot portion of thesupport.
 10. The display device as claimed in claim 5, wherein thedisplay has a center of gravity, and a projection of the center ofgravity on the surface falls between the base portion and the pivotportion.